The Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) is a New York State public-benefit corporation which provides transportation services in the eight-county area in and around Rochester, New York. Currently, RGRTA oversees the daily operation of eleven subsidiaries under the parent company of the RGRTA, including paratransit services.[4] In 2023, the combined system of eleven subsidiaries had a ridership of 9,712,300, or about 35,700 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Organization
The RGRTA is guided by a 16-member board of commissioners (one of which is vacant).[5] The management team is headed by CEO Miguel Velazquez,[6] who reports to the board.[7] In 2017, the RGRTA had operating expenses of $116.51 million and a level of staffing of 1,045 people.[8]
Public transportation in the greater Rochester area can trace its roots back to the streetcar and interurban lines operated by the Rochester Railway Company and later New York State Railways. In 1929, New York State Railways entered receivership, and local interests formed a plan to reorganize the former Rochester Railway. After several years of negotiation, the New York State Public Service Commission approved a reorganization plan in 1937 put together by attorney Howard Woods and his committee of stockholders.[9]
On August 2, 1938, Rochester Transit Corporation assumed operation of the bus and streetcar operations serving the city.[10] The last streetcar line was converted to bus operation in 1941, though contract operation of the city-owned Rochester Subway continued until 1956 (RTC ended freight operations in the Subway by 1957, transferring the responsibility to the connecting railroads).[11] The company was returned to local control in 1943 when the remaining shares owned by Associated Gas & Electric were bought out.
From Private to Public
A 1990 Orion V bus
With postwar prosperity came increased use of automobiles and the spread of population out to the suburbs. Rochester Transit Corporation was plagued by labor unrest, and strikes in 1952 and 1965 ground the system to a halt.[12] A dispute over job listings and seniority caused a brief two-day strike in May 1967. With the transit workers contract coming to an end that fall, stalled negotiations led to another strike in November 1967. The work stoppage continued through the holiday season, and with no end in sight, the City of Rochester drew up a plan to condemn and purchase the transit company operations. Over the objections of RTC, the strike came to an end on January 25, 1968, and the city contracted with National City Management Company to operate the bus lines as Rochester Transit Service.[13]
Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) was formed in 1968 by a state act of government which also formed three similar agencies in Syracuse, Buffalo, the Capital District around Albany and New York City. The RGRTA took over the former RTC bus operation from the City of Rochester and later began expanding bus service to outlying suburban and rural areas. The lines that made up the former RTC service became part of the Regional Transit Service (RTS) in Rochester and Monroe County.[14]
Regional Transit Service
The largest subsidiary of the RGRTA, Regional Transit Service (RTS) serves Monroe County (Rochester and its immediate suburbs) as well as providing service to students at Monroe Community College and Rochester Institute of Technology. Students in the Rochester City School District are also served. Suburban and park-and-ride routes serve the outlying towns in Monroe County and surrounding counties of Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne and Wyoming, including service into Avon, Victor, Lyons, and Le Roy. RTS also serves major shopping centers and malls in Monroe County, such as various Walmart locations, Marketplace Mall in Henrietta, Eastview Mall in Victor and The Mall at Greece Ridge in Greece.
Bus routes
Regional Transit Service operates a number of individual routes, most of which operate on a hub and spoke system from Downtown Rochester. These routes originate at the RTS Transit Center (Pictured Below) at 60 St. Paul Street along Mortimer Street.
Prior to November 28, 2014, the opening date of the transit center, routes originated from the corner of Main and Clinton or from Broad Street. The Main and Clinton stops had been in place since 1863. With the move came a change in routes, stops and times including the elimination of through-routing, in which a bus would operate between two or more different routes during scheduled runs.
On May 17, 2021, the RTS launched Reimagine RTS and the system underwent a complete renumbering and opened new Connection Hubs at highly traveled points of interest.
As of April 4, 2022, the current routes operated by Regional Transit Service include the following:
Route 28 RIT Main Campus Clockwise Weekdays (Merged into Route 29 when the route was no longer a loop in summer 2004)[65]
Route 28 RIT Weekdays (Created in fall 2006; discontinued in January 2010)[64]
Route 29 RIT Main Campus Counterclockwise Weekdays (Merged with Route 28 to form Route 29 RIT Main Campus Weekdays when the route was no longer a loop in summer 2004)[64]
Route 29 RIT Main Campus Weekdays (Discontinued in fall 2004)[66]
Route 30 Webster/Xerox via Empire/Creek (Merged with Routes 40 and 45 into Route 103 Webster on November 28, 2014)[60]
Route 31 RIT Inn/Racquet Club (Discontinued summer 2004)[65]
Route 32 RIT Movie/Mall Route (Discontinued summer 2004)[65]
Route 33 RIT Weekends (Merged into Route 24 in fall 2004; restored in fall 2006; discontinued in January 2010)[64]
Route 34 RIT Holiday/Winter Break (Discontinued summer 2004; Restored for winter break 2006 season, but discontinued again early 2007)[67]
Route 34 RIT Summer 2008 (Only operated in summer 2008)[68]
Route 35 Webster/Xerox via Creek/Klem (Discontinued in 2005)[62]
Route 40 Webster/Xerox (Merged with Routes 30 and 45 into Route 103 Webster on November 28, 2014)[60]
Route 44 Greece/Ferry (Discontinued in January or April 2006)[63]
Route 45 Webster/Xerox via Irondequoit Mall (Merged with Routes 30 and 40 into Route 103 Webster on November 28, 2014)[60]
Route 50 MCC (split into Route 5 MCC Downtown Campus and Route 55 MCC Brighton Campus on September 4, 2017)[69]
Route 52 Park Ave to URMC (Discontinued on September 1, 2014)[70]
Route 68 RIT Henrietta (Discontinued on August 31, 2015)[71]
Route 70 University of Rochester (Discontinued fall 2007)[72]
Route 71 University of Rochester (Discontinued fall 2006)[73]
Route 72 University of Rochester (Discontinued fall 2007)[72]
Route 73 University of Rochester (Discontinued summer 2007)[74]
Route 74 University of Rochester (Discontinued summer 2007)[74]
Route 75 University of Rochester (Discontinued summer 2007)[74]
Route 76 Gates/Ogden/Chili (Discontinued January 2007)[75]
Route 91 Avon (renumbered Route 101 Avon on November 28, 2014[60]
Route 92 Perinton/Bushnell's Basin (renumbered Route 102 Perinton/Bushnell's Basin on November 28, 2014)[60]
Route 95 N Chili/Westside Dr/Churchville/Bergen/LeRoy (Discontinued January 2007)[75]
Route 96 Hilton/Hamlin/Clarkson (renumbered Route 106 Hilton/Hamlin/Clarkson on November 28, 2014)[60]
Route 102 Concerts by the Shore (Only operated summer 2003)[76]
RTS Genesee(formerly Batavia Bus Service) serves Genesee County with local bus service in the city of Batavia, commuter service to and from Le Roy, and once-weekly dial-a-ride service to many of the smaller outlying communities of Wyoming County. Also of note, the RTS Genesee is the oldest of the smaller subsidiaries of the RGRTA network.[78]
RTS Livingston (formerly Livingston Area Transit Service) serves Livingston County with several routes connecting with the county seat of Geneseo and to sites in/near Rochester. It also operates a local bus service in Geneseo and special service for students at SUNY Geneseo. One line connects to RTS Wayne buses in Perry.[79]
RTS Wayne(formerly Wayne Area Transit Service) serves Wayne County with several loop routes based around the county seat of Lyons and the town of Sodus. Then WATS joined the RGRTA as a subsidiary in 1980.[80] A shuttle service also connects with Regional Transit Service (RTS) buses during commuting hours in Lyons.
RTS Wyoming(formerly Wyoming Transit Service) serves Wyoming County, running three loops connecting towns in the community to the county seat of Warsaw. A local loop bus service is also offered to passengers weekdays in the Village of Warsaw.
RTS Orleans(formerly Orleans Transit Service) serves Orleans County with a focus on the larger villages of Albion and Medina with one line connecting to the RTS Genesee subsidiary in Batavia, and special service for students at SUNY Brockport.
RTS Seneca(formerly Seneca Transit Service) serves Seneca County with a focus on Geneva, Seneca Falls, and Waterloo. Additional service also operates on a less frequent schedule as far south as Interlaken and Lodi.
RTS Access(formerly Lift Line) (provider of paratransit services to the area served within 3/4 mile of any fixed RTS route)
RGRTA Maritime Development Corporation
Genesee Transportation Service Council Staff, Inc.
On August 19, 2014, RGRTA announced a rebranding of all their bus lines in the surrounding counties under their control to be named RTS, with the county name following, as shown above, rather than independent names. The changes were officially implemented immediately with equipment and uniforms changing as they are phased in.[81]
Facilities
In 2014, the authority opened a $50 million 87,000 square feet (8,082.56 m2) RTS transit center in downtown Rochester, replacing the former bus station that was part of Midtown Plaza.[82][83] The center has 30 bays capable of handling up to 100 buses per hour.[84]
Clinton Avenue entrance
Interior viewed from the Clinton Avenue entrance
Interior looking toward the Clinton Avenue entrance
Ticket and information counter
Interior looking toward the St. Paul Street entrance
^Smith, Henry Bradford; McKelvey, Blake (July 1968). "Rochester's Turbulent Transit History". Rochester History. 30 (3): 18.
^King, Shelden S. (1975). The New York State Railways. Elmira, New York: Whitehall Mail Service. p. 28.
^Amberger, Ronald (1985). Canalboats, Interurbans and Trolleys: The History of the Rochester Subway. Rochester, New York: Rochester Chapter NRHS. p. 93. ISBN0-9605296-1-6.
^Smith, Henry Bradford; McKelvey, Blake (July 1968). "Rochester's Turbulent Transit History". Rochester History. 30 (3): 21–22.
^Smith, Henry Bradford; McKelvey, Blake (July 1968). "Rochester's Turbulent Transit History". Rochester History. 30 (3): 23–24.
